Roof scraping apparatus



April 16, 1940. s. P. MILLER ROOF SCRAPING APPARATUS Filed March 3l, 1937 ifea Rr om n. MH m WM m mp. www wwf B n.. a

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Patented Apr. 16, 1940v PATENT. yOFFICE i `ROOF soitAPING APPARATUS Stuart lParmelee Miller, Scarsdale, N. Y., ais-v signor to The Barrett- Company, New York,

N. Y., a corporation of New Jerseyv Application Mai-ch 31,

` 7 Claims.

' This invention relates vto apparatus for removing the gravel `surfaces of roofs preparatory to repairing or re-rooiing them.

In re-rooiing orrepairing old roofs with composition roofing such as bitumen-impregnated 'felt base roofing material, it is necessary to provide a surface on which the new roofing maf terial may satisfactorilybe laid to obtain optmum roof life and service. To accomplish this, it is customary toremove from the old roof the stone, gravel or other mineral surfacing material together with a-certain amount of the bitumen in which it is embedded in order to obtain a clean, fresh, foundation surface which is reasonably free from yirregularities and with which the bitumen of the new roof covering will form ya satisfactory bond. For example, in reroong `builtup roofs having alternate layers of felt and bituminous coating material with a layer of gravel forming the wearing surface partially embedded in a coating layen'it is desirable to remove'the gravel layer, together with somer of' the coating material, with as little damage to the felt as possible. v'Heretofore this work has been largely done by hand. With experienced workmen the results may be fairly satisfactory, but under the besty conditions the operation istime-consuming and the labor costs high.

Rotary surfacing machines have been designed for this work, but because of their size, weight and power requirements they are inherently ill adapted for use on any but large jobs. They have not come into general use because of this and because of Weakness of .design loffthose 'acl tually available.

It is an object of this invention to provide an easily manipulatedapparatus of low vpower requirements for expeditiously preparing the surfacesy of old roofsl `for the applicationv of new roofing.v It is a further object to provide an apparatus of such light weight that it is portable and can be used on roof decks of light-construction which would'bestrained by use of the heavy machines hitherto available. It is av further object to provide amachine that will operate close, to parapet Walls and in corner-areas inaccessible to the rotary type of scraper. Other objects and advantages will appear from the following detailed description of my invention.

The 4apparatus of my 'invention comprises a reciprocatory cutter or scraper member, the cutting or scraping portion of which is curved parallel to its edge, a motor for imparting recipron catory motion to the scraper memben'and a movable support for supporting the apparatus withlthe scraper member in contact with and at an acute angle to the surface operated upon. In the preferred embodiment of my invention, i the motor and scraper are mounted for pivotal Y and translational rmovement upon a resilient support; the apparatus is equipped with handle means readily manipulable by an operative to tilt the scraper member about its cutting edge as a pivot for adjusting the angle at which the blade engages the roof thus gauging the depth of cutv and to move the'apparatus along the desired path over the roof. The handle means may also be manipulated to pivot the apparats about the resilient support and raise the scraper blade, e. g., when it is desired to` move the apparatus without performing a scraping operation. The resilient support also .functions to absorb shocks arising during operation and movement of the apparatus.v t v t t In the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this specification' and showing'for purposes of exemplication a preferred 'form of apparatus involving this invention,

' Fig. l is a viewl in side elevation of my apparatus; and YF'ig. 2 is a top plan View thereof.`

In the ldrawing reference numeral l desig-4 f nates a reciprooatory motor having reciprocably vmountedin the lower end. of the framel 2 thereof `the shank 3 of scraper blade 4, which blade is of curvedv configuration adjacent its forward edge, the axis of curvature being parallel tothe forwardedge of the blade, to provide a concave upper surface and a convex lowersurface. scraper blade may be of a Width of from 6 to 10. inches and is preferably about 8 inches Wide. The shank is provided with an enlarged portion 5 which co-acts with the lowerlencl of motor frame 2 and the guard E attached thereto to :limit the oscillatory movement of the scraper` both toward and from themotor frame.

Plates 9, i0 of generally triangular conguration `are attached toeach side of the upper end of the motorirame by suitable securing means such as bolts Il, Rigidly secured to the lower corner of each of the plates Si, il)v is a resilient support for the apparatus including hollow tubular guides i3, lli, Wheel-carrying frame des ignated generally by reference numeral Il', and ,z va resilient, telescopic 'connection between the lguides and frame. The dimensions of the resili- 'fent support are preferablysuch that with the apparatus inv-the position shown in Fig. l, the motor and scraper@ are'inclined at an angleo The of from 45 to 60 to the roof I8 or other surface to be scraped. v

'I'he wheel-carrying frame is constituted of a plate I9 having two Wheel carrying forks 20 secured to the lower side thereof by bolts 2|, and wheels 23, preferably of rubber tired construction, journalled on axlesv24 mounted in the forks. yTubular guides 25 mounted on the upper side of plate I9 telescope upwardly within downwardly extending guides I3, I4 and guide tubes 21, 28 secured to plate I9 by stirrup extensions 30 and bolts 2|, slidably engage the exterio-rs of guides I3 and I4 respectively. Guide rods 3| are mounted in each ofthe assemblies of concentric guide tubes; surrounding the rods within the tubes are helical springs 32- which urge wheeled frame I1 downwardly and the motor and guides I3, I4 upwardly. Disengagement of the set of guides I3, I4 from the sets of guides 25, Z'I'and 28 is prevented by stops 33 on the lower ends of y guides I3, I4.

Secured to the rear corners of plates 9, I0 are rearwardly extending handles 34, 34 preferably equipped with rubber grips 35.

It will be appreciated that the motor of my apparatus may be of the internal combustion, pneumatic or electric type commonly employed in percussion hammers now on the market and since such motors per se are Well known, I have not described the motor construction in detail. In the drawing, I have shown schematically a motor of the internal combustion type having a cylinder 38 yequipped with a reciprocating piston (not shown), a motor fuel tank 40, and a footoperated plunger`4| surrounded by spring 42 adapted to be actuated by foot pressure to start the motor. The shank 3 of scraper blade 4 is detachably connected for operation bythe motor, but since such detachable connections are common in percussion hammers, I have not described the connection in detail. Where, as in the illustem, the battery being connected'to the motor I' by an electric cable 45.

The operation of my apparatus is as followsz` The motor is started to impart reciprocatory motion to the scraper blade, for example, in the case of the internal combustion motor illustrated on the drawing, the ignition is turned on and the plunger 4| is depressed to start reciprocation of the piston. The operative grasps the handles 34, 34 and tilts the apparatus to engage the cutting edge of the reciprocating scraper blade 4 with the roof surface. As hereinabove described, the reciprocatory scraper blade is curved adjacent its forward edge so that the axis of curvature extends parallel to the edge and is located above the blade. This curvature and the inclined position of the blade causes the forward edge of Athe blade to exert a relatively large component ofthe total force exerted thereby in a horizontal direction and resultsv in a scraping as distinguished from a digging action on the roof surface. As the apparatus scrapes the roof the operative manipulates the handles 34, 34 to move the apparatus forward over the roof and to compress or expand springs 32 ythus tilting the frame and the scraper blade about its cutting edge as a pivot to vary the angle between the blade and the roof, thus gauging the 'depth of cut of the scraper blade and removing the desired amount of the old roof surface.

It will be appreciated that `owing to the supc port aiorded by springs 32, yexertion of only'a` relatively smallraising or lowering force on the j..

handles 34, 34 is sucient to pivot the scraper.

blade about its cutting edge. i

The resilient connection between the wheeled prevents damage to the roof deck which might otherwise result from vibration of the wheels,

aswell as permits tilting of the frame I'and scraper blade about the edge of the blade as a pivot to gauge the depth of cut. The shock-ab- I' sorbing lconnection also enhances the smoothnessv vof operation of the apparatus, permits easy control Without excessive shocks to the operative and minimizes breakage of the apparatus which might otherwise occur when the scraper blade 4 strikes a substantial obstruction such as a large nail.

By the term curved as used herein, it is -intended to include blades of angular cross .sec-- tion. i l

In comparative tests it has been found that one I operator with the above-described machine can scrape a much greater area of oldbuilt-up roofing for a reroong operation in a given timer than can be scraped with hand tools by an ex-r perienced workman, 'and that the machinescraped surface will be moreyregular and the underlying felt less damaged than is the case with hand tools heretofore used. Complete preparation for reroofing includes cleaning the r'oof aft# er scraping; the time required for cleaning `is about the same inthe case of both machine and hand scraping. An operator with the machine' of this invention can completelyprepare al builtup roof for reroong, i. e., scrape and clean, `six or more times as fast as an experienced workman withhand tools, and can do ya better job. From the above it will be seen that the machine of this invention is cheap to operate, light in weight, portable, adapted for use on `both large and small jobs, operable by gasoline, compressed air or electricity when fitted with the appropriate motor, .has low power requirements, and can removel old surfacing from areas which cannot be reached by` available rotary Scrapers, e. g., areas close to parapet walls (especially wall corners) and around roof obstructions suchy as ventilatrors and penthouses.

It is to be understood that' this invention is not restricted to the present disclosure otherwise than defined by the appended claims.

What isclaimedis:

1. Roof scraping apparatuscomprising in com- -bination an inclined motor, a roof scraper blade detachably connected to the lower end of said inclined motor for reciprocation thereby, .said scraper blade being curved in the neighborhood of its roof engaging edge so that the `axis of cur' vature ,extends substantially-parallelto said edge and is located above said blade to provide an upper surface of concave conguration and a lowerr surface of convex configuration, handle means extending rearwardly from said motor and means for supporting said motor and blade for-pivotal and translational movement on said roof surface,y

said last named means including a frame, roof engaging Wheels on said frame and a resilient telescopic connection between said frame and said 2. Roof scraping apparatus Comprising in combination an inclinedreciprocatory motor, a roof scraper bladev detachably connected to the lower end of said motor for reciprocation in aninclined plane thereby, said scraper blade. being ,curved in the neighborhood of its roof engaging edge to provide an upper concave surface and a lower convex. surface, the'axis of curvature extending'substantially parallel to the roof engaging edge'of said blade, a handle extending generally rearwardly from the upper end of said` motor, means for, resiliently supporting said motor` and blade for pivotal and translationalymove- 'ment on said roof surface, said supporting means including a set of downwardly extending tubular guides connected to said motor in the neighborhood of its upper end, aframe, roof engaging wheels on said frame, a set of .guides on said frame telescoping with said first named guides and resilient means within the sets of guides for y urging said motor in a direction away from said frame. v l

3. Roof scraping apparatus comprising in combination an internal combustion motor, a roof scraper blade' detachably'connected yto said motorfor reciprocation in' an inclined plane thereby, handle `means for said. motor, means for supporting said .motor and blade for pivotal and y. translationalmovement on said roof; surface, said 30" vpivot by manipulation of said handle means to gauge the depth of cut of said blade, said re-` silient connection also absorbing shocks from said motor to wheels. l

4. Roof scraping apparatus comprising in com` bination a motor adapted to be supported in inclined relation to a roof surface, a scraper blade operatively connected to said motor for reciprocation thereby, a pivotal support mounted on said motor and extending downwardly therefrom to support vsaid motor and scraper pivotally on said ,v roof surface with said `scraper' extending at an acute angle to said surface, said support including f a substantially expansible and compressible resilient connection, and handle means attached to said motor whereby an operative may by move- 'ment of said handle means substantially instantaneously pivot said motor and blade' about said pivotal support to raise said scraper blade out of.v engagement with said surface, said handle meansbeing also manipulable to tilt vsaid motor and blade substantially instantaneously about the forward edge of said blade as a pivot to continuously gauge the depth. of'scrape and move said.`

apparatus over the surface to be scraped.`

5. scraping apparatus comprising in combination a scraper blade, a motor connected to said scraper blade for reciprocatingthe same in contact with a surface to be scraped, supporting'.

means including a resilient connection for `supporting said motor and blade at an acute angle to the surface to be scraped and means manipulable to compress or expand said resilient connec-l tion to tilt said scraper blade about its scrap-v ing edge as a pivot for varying the angle between the blade and the surface to be "scraped, thereby gauging the depth of cut of said blade.

6. Roof scraping apparatus comprising in combination an inclined reciprocatory motor, a roof scraper blade detachably connected to the lower end of said motor for reciprocation inan in-v clined plane in contact with a roof, means 'for resiliently supporting said motor and blade for pivotal'and translational movementr on saidV roof surface, said last named means including a pair of roof engaging wheels and a spring connection between said-wheels and said motor, and handle .means extending rearwardly from said motor, said handle means being manipulable to raisefand lowerthe upper end ofsaid motor thereby varying the tension of said spring connection and tilting .said motor and blade about the cuttingl edge of the blade as a pivot for varying the angle between the blade and the roof to gauge the depth of cut, said handle means being also manipulable to tilt said apparatus about said wheels as a pivot to raise said scraper blade out of contactwith or lower thegblade into con-` tact with the roof.

7; Roof scraping apparatus comprising incombination an inclined reciprocatory motor, a roof scraper blade detachably connected to the lower end of said motor for reciprocation in 'an inclined plane in contact with a roof, means for surface, said last named means .including a pair of roof engaging wheels, telescoping guides bevresiliently supporting said motor and blade for.

pivotal and translational movement on said' roof tween the upper end of said motor and said u Wheels and spring means forv urging said motor in a direction away from said wheels, and hanf dle means extending rearwardly froml said motor, said handle means being manipulable to `raise and lower the upper end of said motor thereby compressing or expanding said spring meansv and tilting said motor and blade about the forward edge of the blade as a pivot for varying the angle between the blade and the roof to gauge the depth of cut, said handle means being also manipulable to tilt said apparatus about said wheels as a pivot to raise the scraper blade` out of contact with or lowerl the blade into contact withv the roof.

S. P. MILLER. 

